In praise of Derek Warwick

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There aren’t many facts likely to make me feel older this week than that on Wednesday Derek Warwick will celebrate his 60th birthday. This seems impossible but I’ve checked and it’s true.

His name came to me earlier this month when on this site Paul Fearnley put forward Jean Behra’s name as the greatest driver never to win a world championship F1 race, challenging the established view that it is Chris Amon who’s most entitled to this most unofficial of soubriquets. I’d still back Amon but I did wonder for a moment whether Warwick’s name should have been tossed into the mix too.

So I did some checking and it seems it should not. I know statistics are not the only guide but when one guy (Amon) gets five poles and 11 podium finishes in 97 Grands Prix and the other (Derek) zero poles and 4 podia in 147 races there doesn’t seem to be much of an argument to have.

But a huge Warwick fan I remain, and for reasons that stretch beyond the tightly focussed world of Formula 1. For instance his record in sports cars is too often unrecognised. Who recalls the fact that in winning the Brands Hatch 1000km race in 1983, he and John Fitzpatrick pulled off the mythically rare feat of beating the full factory Porsche team in a private 956? Or that he took Jaguar’s first Group C victory, his XJR-6 claiming pole and the win at Silverstone in 1986?

And remember it should have been Derek and not Teo Fabi who won the 1991 World SportsCar Championship and had Tom Walkinshaw not caused him to be disqualified from the Silverstone round for winning in a car he was not entered to drive, he would have done. Even without that victory, nobody else won more races that year. He made good in 1992 with Peugeot, gaining the title he so richly deserved and winning at Le Mans too.

I have two other reasons to like Derek Warwick, one he will not remember, the other he most certainly will. Back in 1991 when I was working full time for Autocar, I invited him to spend a day with us at Castle Combe because I wanted a big name to boost a feature we were doing about the most entertaining cars on sale.
He was huge celebrity at the time, emerging from 10 straight seasons in F1 and Jaguar’s lead sports car driver. Yet he turned up, mucked in, drove like the wind and instead of bolting the moment the circuit shut, stayed over in the local pub and spent the evening with us talking cars and racing to his (and our) unconcealed delight.

What he is rather more likely to recall is a stock car race at Wimbledon in 1973. This might seem an odd detail from such a stellar career but when back in 1997 this magazine asked him to name his greatest race, it was that year’s Superstox World Championship Final he unhesitatingly nominated.

He won the race and the title aged just 19. It was a series in which both his dad and uncle Stan competed and success came to Derek not through privilege and ‘arrive and drive’ contracts with professional race teams but by spending seven days a week designing and building his own cars for this rare form of motor sport where contact was not only allowed, but essential for success.

Grids were reversed according to results so the fastest always started last and in the world final he began in 22nd or 23rd place out of 30 cars. By the time he’d fought his way into the top six his father deliberately retired his own car so he could devote all his attentions to the lad’s progress through a race he eventually won with ease.

“What I’ll always remember most clearly from that night is the way my dad and my uncle Stan both hugged me, both in tears because they were so happy. I remember thinking this had to be out of the ordinary to make such a pair of tough guys cry.” The picture we published was of Derek on the podium with the second and third place finishers, all standing on what look suspiciously like cardboard boxes.

More from Andrew Frankel

This is why I like Derek Warwick and actually care little whether he is or is not the greatest driver never to win an F1 race. What cannot be disputed is that this former works Lotus, Renault, Brabham, Peugeot and Jaguar driver who won Le Mans, the World SportsCar Championship and is now President of the British Racing Drivers’ Club named a stock car race with his family at Wimbledon Stadium as his greatest ever. And to me at least, that is pure class. Happy birthday Derek, I hope you have a great one.

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Senior Contributing Writer

After an inglorious stint in the City convinced him that he could handle cars better than he handled money, Andrew joined Autocar many years ago as a junior tester. Since then he has become one of the industry’s senior figures. Editor of Motor Sport for five years, he now runs our road test section.

I too remember watching Derry (as he was known then), racing at Aldershot & Wimbledon late ’60′s early ’70′s. His Dad & Uncle too. I seem to remember they had a family business making vehicle trailers rather like Ifor WIlliams but I could be wrong here.

on 26th August 2014 at 12:11

Alan Burden

I always remember when Warwick and Piquet were battling it out in a lower formula. There was Piquet sitting around with everyone rushing around him. Warwick ,however ,on a much lower budget was rolling his tyres from the tyre providers to his own pit. Also he cartwheeled once in a practice in, I think I recall correctly, a Lotus and ended upside down on the track.. He wriggled out of his car and started sprinting back to his pit. What a character!. My friend and I were both wrong, admittedly ,but we always predicted he would be a formula one world champion. But for the lucky breaks who knows?

on 26th August 2014 at 12:33

Craig

If there are any heroes in the world, Derek is one of them. To prodigious driving talent, he added humility, family values and exceptional bravery.

One event stands above all others for me during his Formula One career: After his team-mate’s near-fatal crash at Jerez in 1990 when no-one at Lotus had fathomed whether the car had failed and therefore whether his own car was an accident waiting to happen, Derek got back into his Lotus-Lamborghini and drove it flat-out, risking his life for the sake of a faltering Team Lotus. It was an amazing act of commitment.

Team Lotus should have withdrawn his car until the cause of the accident could be established – or, at least, until a fault with the car could be ruled out – but he was put in the unenviable position of having to decide whether to drive or not. He carried that team when lesser people would have walked away, especially considering how the poor the car was that year.

I’m no racing driver but I just don’t imagine that I could ever have managed to do the same thing – which is probably why I regard him as a hero.

on 26th August 2014 at 14:27

Craig

One other thought: If any of you who are reading this missed the Motorsport podcast of 2012 with Derek, I would urge you to listen to it! It’s a gem:

In particular, Derek’s recounting of his Mercedes motorhome altercation with Michael Schumacher during his sportscar days was hugely entertaining.

He’s almost the only driver from the last 30 years that I could ever imagine wanting to hang out with. That probably tells you everything you need to know. Happy birthday, Derek!

on 26th August 2014 at 14:34

JoePro

Fair enough, a decent driver in his day, but what’s with MS and this constant stream of hagiographic mini-biographies. Please, unless there’s some other reason they’re in the news, wait until someone dies, then do them a decent obit.

on 26th August 2014 at 16:16

Andre

Regarding JoePro’s comments, I completely disagree. I enjoy these features, especially as they’re being made available for free on the web site, and hope MS continues to publish them. Personally, I’d like to know more about these various characters from racing’s history while they’re still alive.

on 26th August 2014 at 18:42

Andrew Scoley

That’s about the most asinine comment I’ve ever read and deserves no further comment (not you Andre).

on 26th August 2014 at 19:17

chrisb

a great discussion Paul and would be grateful if you would be so kind as to remove one of the comments and send it where it is more appropriate please

Del boy was a out and out racer, a great bloke, and a worthy champion

i met him at Silverstone in his F3 days and he was a bloke, actually in all fairness so was Piquet but someone explained to me that day about not everyone had the same opportunities, races that stir great memories,
Brands Hatch in the Toleman overtaking a Ferrari, the nearest i ever heard to that cheer that day was when James overtook Niki at Brands,
Canada in the Renault, leading until he hit a barrier[?]
eddie Cheever and Del in the Jags, incurring Tom’s wrath – priceless
and Senna – turning him down for Lotus – mmm

thanks for the memories Del, you are a good one and an excellent driver – worthy of a champion

p.s. Paul, would be great to hear from Derek

on 26th August 2014 at 20:09

daveyman

I always regard Derek along with Martin Brundle in that they both clearly had the talent to win Grand Prix but never quite got in the right place at the right time. Maybe they were never quite as singleminded as Prost/Mansell etc but maybe that also made them more rounded people and more prepared for life after racing. Both Derek and Martin should be massively proud of their careers and the way they presented themselves.

on 26th August 2014 at 20:41

Ron

I remember once emailing Derek at his car dealership on Jersey, just to say how much I’d enjoyed his driving and his approach to motor racing in general.I also commented that I remembered that big,beaming smile of his which was a hallmark of his, throughout the highs and lows of his F1 career.
In signing off, I mentioned where I was writing from, and before I knew it, I’d received a lovely reply from him thanking me for my comments and a p.s. saying “By the way,I used to race stock cars with my dad and uncle at Foxhall stadium behind your house” Brilliant !!

on 26th August 2014 at 21:58

Frank

Re: The Derek Warwick podcast – another great story is the massive crash at the parabolica in the Lotus. Certainly one of the best podcasts Motorsport has done (and there are a lot of good ones).

on 26th August 2014 at 23:35

Natasha

The things I always liked about Derek was his honesty, courage and his willingness to admit when he was at fault. Great guy.

on 27th August 2014 at 02:01

roger mumbower

I will always remember Derek from the first formula one race in Long Beach. He was sitting on a mechanics tool box watching them work on his car. A little boy was yelling to him to get his attention. The little boy was about 100 feet standing outside the barrier to keep people out of the area. Derek hopped off the tool chest, and walked over to the little boy, and knelt down to talk to him. The fact that this famous formula one driver, took time to talk to a little boy, made me a fan for rest of his career.

on 27th August 2014 at 03:27

Terry Jacob

Superstox , and F2 stock cars , over the years have produced lots of wonderful drivers , like Derek , who should have gone on to bigger and brighter things just as he did . It’s always great to know that Derek remembers his roots with such warm affection . A racers racer .

on 27th August 2014 at 08:10

Dave Cook

Did Ayrton Senna block DW from joining Lotus in the mid-eighties? A compliment of sorts!

on 27th August 2014 at 12:06

Andrew Scoley

Chrisb- It was Dallas in 1984 when Derek had just taken the lead, either missed his braking point or got on the marbles and stuffed it into the wall.

Daveyman- I think both Derek and Martin got themselves into the right car at the right time to win at least one Grand Prix: Derek in Brazil in 84, and Martin in Canada in 93, and on both occasions mechanical failure cost them. It’s often the case that when you’ve got one under your belt others will follow so who knows what might have been had either of them put those races away.

on 28th August 2014 at 05:42

Dave Cubbedge

JoePro, you are unbelievable!

MS, keep giving us what you have been doing for over 90 years!

on 28th August 2014 at 16:36

Stephen Robinson

Derek and family graciously allowed my brother-in-law and me to accompany them with the Toleman team (Hart and Symmonds included) in Europe and what a boys own experience! Trying to keep up behind his modest Renault hire car down the mountain hairpins from the Pension Lipp in my Saab turbo to the circuit at the Austrian GP! Huge beer mat fight in the restaurant after the GP, cowering behind upturned tables. Cellar door opening and there was Herr Lipp, yes Herr Lipp, with an armful of further ammunition! Great fun but of course very serious at the track and Toleman on the edge of a breakthrough that never quite came.

PS As a thank you Derek and his wife came to dinner and our little daughters upstairs crept down and timidly asked for his autograph on scraps of paper..mine took it in her hands, looked at it and burst into tears. What’s wrong he asked. “It’s all joined up I wanted it in big letters!”

on 29th August 2014 at 09:04

Allan

Like Andrew I have a memory of Derek Warwick he has probably forgotten.
At the Le Mans 24 Hours in 1996, we went out for a meal on the Friday evening to a small restaurant near our hotel and to our surprise Derek walked in and joined the table. He made some comment about hoping to pick up a drive!! He joined in the ‘petrol heads’ conversation in a very relaxed manner. We could not believe we were talking to a world champion.
Thanks Andrew for your intelligent, down to earth articles avoiding the ‘Top Gear speak’ that seems to be infecting a lot of car journalists.

on 29th August 2014 at 09:34

Philip Senior

A big “What If”….What If Derek had signed for Williams instead of opting to stay with Renault? Would he have had the wins that Nigel had…and ultimately the WDC to add to his Superstox & World Sports Car titles, leaving Nigel win and title-less? Who Knows…

on 30th August 2014 at 14:36

Archie Cheunda

Thanks Andrew, a lovely article and a much-welcome one, in response to the sole unwelcome comment. Amongst all the other much more pleasant comments, a notably high percentage of them are personal anecdotes alluding to Derek’s warm nature and generous spirit. Thanks to those who posted those uplifting stories. Cynics will say it shows “nice guys don’t finish first”, especially cynics for whom there is no life beyond F1, but the record which you set out, Andrew, shows that this nice guy did in fact finish first rather a lot, which tickles me pink. How it would have tickled me pink if the spoils of at least one GP win had been added to the Warwick trophy room though. In addition to Brazil ’84 as mentioned by Andrew, reliability cost Derek a probable win in Canada ’89 and (less well-remembered) he might have won earlier that year, again in Brazil, but for a botched pit-stop. Philip is right to observe that the decision to turn down Williams just before they came good again is the biggest “what if” in a career punctuated by “what ifs”. In that regard, Derek was certainly not unlike Amon, often in the right team at the wrong time. So when Andrew (justifiably) compares their bare stats, I would say that’s the whole point of the “best driver never to” debate. If stats told all – as Andrew himself makes clear they do not – then Amon himself would not have a zero in his WDC wins column. And nor would our beloved Delboy.

on 31st August 2014 at 18:08

Archie Cheunda

Dave (Cook) asks about Senna stopping Derek joining Lotus. Andrew mentions Paul’s column on Behra and on that thread there was much pleasant discussion about Delboy, including the Senna veto, which has often mystified those who noted Ayrton wasn’t scared by team-mates, myself too although I never bought the reasons given by Senna for vetoing DW. Then I looked up Mansell’s autobiography for evidence that Nigel’s problems at Lotus with Peter Warr began before Monaco ’84, vis-a-vis a related debate. There was confirmation aplenty, including a story on page 146, where Mansell relates an attempt by Warr to get him dumped as early as 1982 – in favour of Derek! Nigel writes: “He thought that Derek Warwick was a future World Champion and badly wanted to get him into the team”. As I wondered on the Behra thread, could Warr’s overt enthusiasm for Warwick in fact hold the real key to Senna’s reluctance when Warr tried again to sign him later? At least Derek himself, in typical fashion, laughs about it, with his famous story of Senna’s Christmas card.
“Podia” – I like that one, Andrew! It reminds me of James Hunt’s regular use of the word “Loti” when commentating on a brace of Lotuses. His coining of “Feetwork” for the plural of Footwork was even more amusing, if necessarily less elegant. Either might have occured with Delboy in one of the cockpits.

on 31st August 2014 at 18:33

Ray

Anyone who could manhandle the old General Belgrano has my respect. Love to see the faces on the likes of Lewis, Nico and Sebastian if you plonked them in it for a weekend.

on 1st September 2014 at 13:40

Simon Hird

Derek’s F3/F2 was enthusiastically covered at the time by Rob Widdow’s much missed Track Torque programme on Radio Victory when he (and Derek Bell) were often featured. Thanks Rob from a school lad at the time listening to the weak signal on his radio at the top of the stairs in Bournemouth to Victory from Portsmouth.
Back to Derek, I think that his was probably the best podcast you have done. I loved the story about chasing Schumacher through the paddock. Time you invited him back, perhaps a double header with Eddie Cheever…. My autograph was signed behind the pits at Thruxton next to yhis lovely yellow F3 Chevron B34

on 6th September 2014 at 07:17

Richard Bartlett

Derek Warwick what a real racer two memories I have of Derek the first at a cold wet Brands clubbie his brother Paul had sustained some front end damage in I believe a ff2000 Derek in the pit lane wielding a hammer to straighten out a deformed wishbone and seemingly having great fun the second time as a guest Alfa Romeo track day at Silverstone Derek as their touring car driver he spent all day driving us punters on hot laps in a variety of road going Alfa’s consistently touching the wall with the door mirrors when coming out of the paddock into pit lane at what seemed like racing speeds the number of laps were limited by the life of the inside front tyre which had a life of three laps before going through to the wires, Northampton was exhausted of supplies of that particular size of tyre.He never stopped grinning and chatting cheerfully with all the passengers whilst getting the car to unbelievable angles I appeared to enjoy it as much as anyone in the car.A fantastic ambassador for motorsport.